title image

Play vs. AI, friend, or online

Ratings

Age

4+

Category

Board

Languages

English

Screenshot
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Ratings & Reviews
Become a great player!
Wed Jul 22 2020 Meatisanidiot

I’ve been playing Backgammon NJ on my iPhone for 10+ years along with other BG games, this is by far the best! The board and interface are straight forward but also offer in-depth settings, modes and stats that I haven’t found in any other game. After nearly a decade of playing at Medium and Hard skill levels, I forced myself to play on Expert level for the last two years…to say it can be frustrating is putting it mildly. I can see how some people might think this App (and its AI) is somehow cheating, but it’s not. Those false claims have easily been debunked – take a look at the njsoftware web site. The thing about Expert mode is it’s just that. Over time you’ll start to understand how game reacts to the dice rolls and your moves – basically its strategy. Because of BG NJ, my method of play and approach have dramatically changed over the last few years. I’m at a point where I can beat the game nearly half the time on expert level and often, I know within the first 4-6 turns how the game is going to end. Like anything else, if you play on medium, hard and expert level, you will become a much better player…I certainly have.

Cheats - Here’s how to prove it
Sun May 05 2019 AirPrint SchmairPrint

I consider myself to be a very good backgammon player. Made a lot of beer money in college in the early 80's playing gammon for 25 cents a point. Anybody who says this app doesn't cheat is smoking crack. I proved the cheating to myself and you can do the same. I played 10 games on the expert mode with the computer generated dice rolls. I lost EVERY game. Then I changed the option to manual dice rolls, still on expert mode. When I manually rolled the dice and forced the computer to play those random rolls, I won 7/10 games. Unfortunately, manual dice rolling is very tedious, but — it's the only way to ensure that the computer plays fair. The manual dice rolling option is the only reason why I would recommend this app. FYI - I’ve downloaded many other backgammon apps and they ALL cheat. The AI in this app, like in every other app I’ve played appears to be the same for all modes. The only difference between beginner and expert modes is the amount of timely doubles and perfect rolls generated by the computer. Where this app can help improve your play is by learning to strategically use the doubling cube and recognizing pip count advantages. For beginners, looking at the hints might also help improve your game.

Best iOS BG app I’ve found!
Sat Jun 22 2019 witttiger93

I’m not in any way an accomplished player, but I’m fascinated with the game and this app is the best Player vs AI I’ve found on the iOs platform. I’ve seen the accusations from other reviewers about the AI cheating by looking ahead at the previously generated roll values and adjusting its strategy accordingly. I don’t believe this for two reasons: 1) I’m a novice-level player with poor math skills who’s also hampered by deficient strategic thinking. And yet, through repeated play, I’ve improved and consistently beaten the AI enough to advance to a higher difficulty level. And 2) why would a developer hope to successfully launch an app by deliberately designing it to cheat the player? Especially in this case where there’s no further play-based profit to be made beyond the initial purchase, so why would there even be an incentive to do so? It makes far more sense to go to every length to ensure an unbiased game environment, which is what I believe this developer did. I don’t get to play on a real board against other people very often, so I love playing and practicing on this app!

An interesting well-made game with bad dice rolls
Sat Nov 16 2024 Horselover3999

This is a great game. The developer deserves recognition for his amazing accomplishment. However, the dice rolls are not random. When one is playing the computer, one gets better rolls if they play by the computer’s rules. Otherwise one loses. Without question. The worst part is that, that feature spills into online game play. Players complain constantly about it and all the developer will say is that if you use His way to test the dice rolls, you will find the dice are random. I disagree. Over and over, one gets nonsensical rolls. I just got 3 double 4s in a row. Then not a single 4 in all the rolls after that for the game. That happens with other numbers. I’ve been playing for 8 or nine years and that’s a regular occurrence. What are the odds of rolling doubles three times in a row that are the same? It’s a regular feature in this game. Other than obvious flaws like that, I do believe Jimmy has created an incredible game that is much enjoyed by tens of thousands worldwide. He deserves credit for that. But he needs to re-examine his allegedly random dice roll database. And look into why the player is rewarded with better dice rolls for the right computer blessed moves while playing online. That should only be happening when one is learning from the computer. And the player should be able to turn that ridiculous feature off.

Game cheats if dice in auto roll
Mon Aug 08 2022 NailThatEMF

I read the comment by AirPrint Shmairprint (from 3 yrs ago), who tested his skill using manual rolling, and he did great, whereas in expert mode he lost every game. That gave me an idea. I was doing well, just playing against the computer, until I opted for Auto Roll dice, then I was losing 6/7 games or worse, and I’m no beginner. So I changed back to not auto rolling the dice, and first new game I got backgammon, proving auto rolling dice was the problem. The reason I was willing to pay for this game, the Pro version, was the developer’s insistence that dice rolls weren’t biased; but with Auto Roll, opponent got more doubles when most needed, especially when bearing off. Of course, statistics show doubles average to be about same for both sides, but timing is critical. So DO NOT USE AUTO ROLL and you should really enjoy this game! Clearly the developer didn’t test every possible scenario or he would have fixed the Greedy Component Syndrome. Unfortunately, last update was 2 years ago so doubt he will even read this comment. I’ve no comment about playing online, as I’ve not tried it yet. But for me, this game is a keeper.

Great app, improves my game
Tue Mar 22 2022 Padgit8r

Okay, I really like this app (cannot say I LOVE any app, LOL). Still cannot figure out how the computer constantly gets back on the board quickly with perfect rolls (when I only have 2 open spots) so much more often than when I roll. Understandably, the computer moves well and covers the board better, but it still seems to almost ALWAYS get back on within 2 rolls unless I have the entire board covered. But, as far as cheating is concerned, I don’t think it looks ahead at future rolls, but the manual rolls are suspiciously “perfect.” Either way, I still enjoy the game and have gotten better quickly. After a few weeks, I’m taking best of 7 matches consistently against medium unless I do something dumb in the first 4 rolls. I’ll move to hard and expert soon. In the analysis portion, I would like to see mirrored dice rolls as an option to replay entire games and see how different moves would change an outcome. That could help folks get much better. I have no idea if other apps do this at all.

Best Backgammon Game So Far
Mon Jul 18 2022 DarVader55

I am constantly on the lookout for the best backgammon game ever. This is almost perfect. Backgammon NJ HD is designed to be realistic both in board designs as well as options for play. I enjoy both the pip count and percentage chance of winning/losing to see what the computer thinks is the right moves to make at the time. While I don’t necessarily agree with its recommendations if you use the hint option, it does challenge me to think of additional options. The doubling option does make you think carefully about what moves are in play and allows you too end a potentially disastrous game. There are two issues with this game. First, after thousands of games played, I do believe that the dice rolls are slightly favoring the computer. Secondly, when allowing for the automatic bearing off, it will make mistakes only on your side and not on the computer’s side. Finally, I would definitely say that this is the best game out there that I have found, it’s also a great training tool for beginners, and I probably play 10 games a day because it is fun and fast.

Surprisingly good but not the place to find skilled competition
Sun Aug 05 2018 Dichterliebe1

The reality is very few people are truly good at backgammon, so it appears computers cheat or dice aren't fair. No, you just need to improve. No app is good as XG for learning the game, but after playing this a while I've found there to be many useful features, clean interface, strong AI, and fair rolls. Trust me, play against a world champion and you will think they have rigged dice too. I've played against enough people on this app to confirm that there are a lot of weak players on here, the main downside of this app. And people play short matches, which misses out on much of the richness of backgammon. I would like a way to manually input an email address to send match files to, instead of having to use the Mail app. Analyze mode doesn't give enough info on cube decisions - is it No double because it's not good enough, or too good? And the dice rolls show up on the same side of the board, a bit confusing. But, it's a pretty well done app overall.

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